John VIII

John was a deacon of the Roman church when elected on Dec. 14, 872, to succeed Pope Adrian II. He supported archbishop St. Methodius in the Christianization of the Slavs and sanctioned the use of the Slavic language for the liturgy. To unite southern Italy against invasions of the Saracens—Muslim enemies—John allied with the Frankish emperor Louis II. On Louis’s death (875) John named and then crowned King Charles II the Bald of France as Western emperor. He supported Charles against the Saracens and personally led expeditions against them. But the resistance dissipated when Charles died.

Meanwhile, John was harassed by the cardinal bishop of Porto, Formosus (later pope), and his supporting faction. John deposed and excommunicated Formosus in 876.

John solved a controversy over orthodoxy between the Holy See and the East by recognizing in 879 the heretofore condemned Photius as patriarch of Constantinople. Between 875 and 881 he fortified Rome against the Saracens and founded a papal navy. In 881 he crowned the Frankish king Charles III the Fat as emperor. Throughout his pontificate, John was threatened by intrigues among his political enemies. He is said to have been murdered in a local conspiracy, the first pope to be assassinated.